The Houston Rockets had a gut check game against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday and failed miserably, being dominated by the Spurs, who shot 58 percent from the field, to the tune of a 145-120 San Antonio victory.
The Rockets had no defense, as the Spurs got pretty much whatever they wanted, with Victor Wembenyama leading the way with 29 points, and they also got 23 from Stephon Castle and 20 each from Keldon Johnson and De’Aaron Fox, who also had 10 assists.
As for the Rockets, they got 23 points,
5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks from Kevin Durant on 7-for-12 shooting from the field, as well as 23 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists from Amen Thompson, who was 8-for-15 from the floor.
Reed Sheppard and Jabari Smith Jr. had 17 points each, with Reed going 3-for-10 from deep to go along with 3 rebounds and 3 assists, while Smith had 5 rebounds and 3 assists to round out Houston’s double-digit scorers.
The Rockets showed that they were not quite on par with some of the west’s best, as they lost the season series to San Antonio 3-1. They also fall to the fourth seed in the west with a 39-24 record, on pace for a slightly worse record than last season. If they playoffs ended today, the Rockeys would take on the Los Angeles Lakers, which is an admittedly good matchup for them, but do you have any real faith in the Rockets going anywhere this postseason? I know that I do not.
But it could also get worse. The Rockets are only two games ahead of the Phoenix Suns for a Play-In spot. Falling down to the Play-In is not out of the question.
The Rockets need to find an answer for the shooting discrepency. They were just 8-for-28 from deep, while the Spurs were 21-for-40. That’s almost a 40-point swing on three-point shooting alone. You’re not going to win much basketball that way.
Anyway, the Rockets will return to action on Tuesday with a home game against the Toronto Raptors. That’s a 7pm CST start.
